Amphibians - especially Rana pipiens, Bufo Marinus, R. catesbeiana, Xenopus, the axolotl and now, Bombina orientalis - are extensively used in health-related research. The need for high quality animals has become increasingly evident and, together with increasing shortages in the natural supply, has led to strong recommendations to develop the culture of amphibians and improve the quality of their care and management. The program of the Amphibian Facility is designed to meet these recommendations. This prograam of development, productin, informtion dissemination, and service will proceed in accordance with the following specific objectives: (1) to solve the problms of growth, reproduction, and disease which have impeded the culture of amphibians; (2) to develop genetically heterozygous strains for general use, inbred an homozygous lines for special studies, and mutant lines for specific studies; (3) to develop procedures for housing, feeding, and healthy maintenance of 10,000's of animals; (4) to develop a program of service to the scientific community; (5) to develop low-cost housing units to improve amphibian maintenance in laboratories conducting health-related research; (6) to increase the immediate availability of Laboratory-Reared andLaboratory-Bred amphibians by sharply increasing the productin of Xenopus and B. orientalis; (7) to exploit our information management system (Taxir) to provide demographic, genetic, and disease data needed by users of amphibians.